Efficient, compact and cheap bottle-to-bottle

With the
presentation of its newly developed Vacunite technology on November 26 at the
PETnology conference in Paris, Erema once again demonstrates its role as
innovation leader. The Austrian producer of plastics recycling machines brings
together its Vacurema bottle-to-bottle process with newly patented,
vacuum-supported solid state polycondensation (SSP) from Polymetrix in this
innovation. What makes this combination so special: all thermal process steps
take place in nitrogen atmosphere. The result is rPET pellets which are unique
in quality and far exceed all food-contact requirements.

With Vacunite
Erema expands its portfolio for PET recycling solutions. This technology is the
answer to the challenges which PET recycling will have to face in the future.
Christoph Wöss (in the bottom picture), Erema Business Development Manager for the bottle sector, summed
up these challenges as follows: "The growing commitment in society to
handling plastics in a responsible way means that both political requirements
and voluntary pledges of major beverage brands call for a significant increase
in the amount of recyclate in end products. To fulfil these requirements, even
more material in general and with varying quality due to different collection
systems has to be recycled while, at the same time, the big brands are becoming
even stricter with their requirements regarding the recyclates produced”.

The best technologies in one plant

The focus
of the next development of the PET recycling technology was on improving
quality even further - which has been accomplished in impressive style.
"Our new development brings together the best of what is technically
possible", said a convinced Wöss. The process is based on the combination
of proven Vacurema technology which has been enhanced for this application and
the newly patented, vacuum-supported nitrogen SSP from Polymetrix. All thermal
process stages take place in nitrogen atmosphere, largely eliminating flake and
pellet discoloration and reliably removing additives which could lead to
undesired reactions in the melt. Another benefit of Vacunite: the vacuum
support cleans the nitrogen which means it can be returned to the previous
processing stage and nitrogen consumption is reduced as a result. Any remaining
dust particles are removed from the pellets before filling to avoid preform
contamination. "Using vacuum support and nitrogen atmosphere creates rPET
recyclates which far exceed all existing food contact requirements, even those
of the major beverage brands", emphasised Wöss.

But Vacunite
is special not only because of the exceptional quality of the output material.
The recycling technology also stands out through its comparatively compact
build, low energy consumption and, compared to vacuum SSP systems, considerably
lower maintenance. Depending on machine type, 50 to 60 square metres of floor
space is sufficient for the SSP part. The height and substructure also have
less impact on the dimensions of the plant building compared to other SSPs. The
energy consumption of Vacunite for the entire production process from the flake
to the final pellets amounts to a mere 0.35 kWh per kg.

"With
Vacunite we offer our bottle-to-bottle customers a new technology in addition
to the existing portfolio which sets new standards at all levels from technical
performance to rPET quality", said Manfred Hackl, CEO Erema Group with
conviction and he adds: "There is a great amount of interest. A first
customer in Europe has already decided to invest in a Vacunite recycling plant
prior to the official product launch".

Subscribe online

Press registered at the Milan Court, n.144 at 03/22/2010 Pubblisher: Mario Maggiani.Reproduction prohibited, all rights reserved. The editorial staff disclaims all responsibility regarding the worth of articles and news from various sources.